How this artist experimented with a new art style for his first graphic novel

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After working as a concept artist and illustrator in the entertainment industry for several years, Alexander “Minze” Thümler is now focusing on his own graphic novel. That’s provided him with new challenges and also opportunities to try new things beyond his usual approach to his digital art for customers.

We asked him to talk us through one particular piece that he worked when he was testing out ideas for the project. If you’re inspired and need tools for your own work, see our guides to the best digital art software and the best drawing tablets.

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“This piece is an experiment – I wanted to explore an art style for my graphic novel,” Alexander says. “I started with a thumbnail sketch to capture the idea and quickly establish the composition and lighting. After refining the drawing and blocking in local colours, I added cast shadows and ambient occlusion on Multiply layers.

For the light areas, I used Color layers and Adjustment curves, separating them from the shadows with masks. Additional Normal layers enabled me to paint reflections on metal, skin and other surfaces, as well as indirect light in the shadows. To avoid time-consuming rendering, I decided to keep the line art.”

For more inspiration, see Moritz Cremer’s feature on how to create a strong sci-fi character. You might also want to see our roundup of digital artists’ work.

This article originally appeared in ImagineFX. Subscribe to ImagineFX to never miss an issue. Print and digital subscriptions available.